From a Farm in Ohio to a Grain Network Across the South-West
Engr. Doherty's business career began, in a sense, before he ever founded a company — on a farm in Ohio, working alongside his professor during his university years, where he developed a lasting interest in mechanised agriculture and grain processing. He returned to Nigeria in 1986 with an Associate Degree in Mechanical Engineering and a B.Sc. in Industrial Technology from Central State University, and completed his NYSC at Triplex Safety Glass in Ibadan, supervising quality control on the toughened-glass production line.
He then spent several years at Cargill Nigeria Ltd, one of the world's largest grain merchants, as Southern Purchasing Manager — overseeing purchasing, logistics, warehousing and export of grain and cocoa products across southern Nigeria, including a bulk sugar import programme with an annual turnover of roughly $6 million.
In 1986, he incorporated Dohagro Allied International and left salaried employment to build it full-time. Its first business wasn't an office — it was a mobile grain-shelling and drying service that travelled farm to farm across Oyo, Ilorin, Fiditi, Awe, Iwo, Shaki and Ogbomosho, tackling post-harvest grain loss at its source for local farming communities who had nowhere else to turn.